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Bengaluru: In order to provide better convenience and a more efficient commuting experience for the residents of Bengaluru city, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation or BMTC is planning to expand its fleet of buses and operations in the silicon city. Recently, the BMTC invited tenders to purchase as many as 820 diesel buses. On February 9, the Corporation invited tenders to purchase fully built Bharat Stage 6 diesel buses. Notably, February 17 is the last date to submit the bids. According to BMTC’s Chief Traffic Manager (Operations) GT Prabhakar Reddi, with Karnataka government’s funds, as many as 820 diesel buses will be procured. 20 buses have been taken on a trial basis from Tata Motors.
Notably, this would be the last series of the bus purchases that the corporation has planned in the short term. This purchase is expected to help the silicon city to proclaim the top position in the number of city buses. It is worth noting that Delhi has as many as 7,135 city buses, the most of any city in the country.
In October 2022, BMTC started tenders to acquire 840 diesel buses, but the process was temporarily paused due to a petition filed in the Karnataka High Court. The petition argued against the Corporation’s purchase of buses with a floor height of 1,000 mm, citing concerns about their lack of accessibility for people with disabilities.
In March last year, the court granted permission to resume the bus purchase process after the transport authority assured it full accessibility for passengers using wheelchairs. However, the process faced delays due to the assembly elections.
In the meantime, BMTC opted to issue new tenders. A BMTC official mentioned that the tender would be finalised within two months. These buses are expected to be available in the second half of the year. Currently, BMTC incurs a cost of Rs 78/km for a diesel bus while generating only Rs 66. On a contrary, Volvo buses, which cost Rs 105/km, generate only Rs 70/km in revenue.
The BMTC, which earlier had a total of 6,688 buses by March 2023, has planned to buy or lease another 2,211 vehicles. This includes 921 non-AC electric buses, 120 midi-buses, 840 diesel buses, 320 AC e-buses, 10 AC double-decker e-buses.
In December 2023, the operator inducted 100 of the 921 non-AC e-buses from TML Smart City Mobility Solutions Ltd and expects to get the rest in the next few months.
The BMTC has already invited tenders to lease 320 AC e-buses, 120 midi-buses and 10 double-decker buses. These busses will hit the city roads in later this year, according to a BMTC official.
The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is all prepared for re-introducing the double-decker buses in the city and has called for tenders. However, the daily commuters are both pleased and confused by BMTC’s decision, questioning why twin-deck buses, capable of carrying more passengers at a time, are limited to specific routes rather than being introduced on all busy roads. Responding on the commuters question, a senior official stated that most of the roads in the city are not double-decker friendly. “We would want to have more double-decker buses to neutralise the heavy rush, but we can’t as a majority of the roads have ceased to be double-decker friendly,” TOI quoted the official as saying.
It is noteworthy that in the last 25 years, the roads have transformed, with as many as 42 flyovers and 28 underpasses being built without factoring in the return of double-decker buses. Several skywalks have also emerged in recent years, dotting the busy roads along with low-height gantries and other structure. Hence the double-decker busses can’t run on every route of silicon city.
Due to the above-mentioned reasons and with not many options left, the BMTC has identified three routes for double-decker bus operations. The routes are – Majestic (Kempegowda bus station) to Shivajinagar, Majestic to Attibele, and Vijayanagar to Kalasipalya.
According to Ramachandra R, Managing Director of BMTC, the department has approved the floating tender to lease as many as 10 double-decker AC electric buses on a Gross Cost Contract (GCC) basis.
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